The Phantom 3 series
of quadcopters offers
amazing aerial imaging
capabilities at a
fantastic price point!

Produce 4K
video with this
aerial media
platform
The original DJI Phantom was released in early 2013 and made it possible for consumers to haul
an action camera aloft in order to shoot
aerial media. DJI continued to evolve
and improve the Phantom product line
in the months and years that followed by
releasing the Phantom FC40, Phantom 2,
Phantom 2 Vision, and Phantom 2+.

Each version offered subtle
improvements on the original design.
That statement is driven by the release of
the Phantom 3 Advanced and Phantom
3 Professional in May 2015. Although
the list of features rolled into this latest
iteration of the Phantom product line is
impressive, the most amazing aspect of
all is the price.

Many potential Phantom 3 buyers will
ask what the differences are between the

$999 Advanced version and the $1,259

Professional version. The Phantom

3 Professional (P3P) is capable of a
maximum video resolution of 4096 x

2160p, also known as 4K video, while
the Advanced version caps the video
resolution at 1920 x 10808p HD.

The included battery chargers, used to
charge the flight battery and controller
battery are subtly different. The P3P
includes a 100-watt charger, while the
charger included in the Advanced version
is a 57-watt unit.

The colored bands used to mark two
of the Phantom 3’s four arms are silver
on the Advanced version and gold on the
Professional version, although DJI also
includes a sheet of graphics in the box
that allows users to adorn their Phantom
with a variety of band colors.

I opted for the Professional version and
purchased it from ALL e RC the first
weekend that it became available. The
items in the P3P box include two sets of
self-tightening propellers with composite
hubs, a propeller wrench, an extra set
of rubber gimbal vibration-absorbing
balls, an extra set of clear plastic gimbal-retention pins, and an opaque plastic
gimbal-locking block.

The P3P ships with the gimbal-locking block in place (as well as a small
white foam shim block to the rear of
the gimbal), suggesting that it might be